House's Head
"House's Head" | |
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House episode | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 15 |
Directed by | Greg Yaitanes |
Story by | Doris Egan |
Teleplay by |
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Original air date | May 12, 2008 |
Running time | 44 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
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"House's Head" is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of House and the eighty-fifth episode overall. It was the first part of the two-part season four finale, the second part being "Wilson's Heart". Co-written by several House producers and directed by Greg Yaitanes, "House's Head" premiered on May 12, 2008 on Fox.
The episode revolves around Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), who, after being involved in a bus accident, vaguely remembers seeing someone who is "going to die". House tries to trace back his steps throughout the episode to find out the identity of this person. A woman (Ivana Miličević), who claims to be "the answer", guides House through hallucinations about the crash. The episode eventually ends in a cliffhanger.
14.84 million American viewers watched the broadcasting of "House's Head", making House the ninth most-watched program of the week. The episode was submitted for five Primetime Emmy Awards,[1] from which two nominations followed.[2] Greg Yaitanes won the Emmy for "Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series", but Hugh Laurie lost the award in the category "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" to Bryan Cranston of AMC's Breaking Bad.[3]
Plot
Dr. Gregory House is getting a lap dance in a strip club when he suddenly realizes he has no memory of the past four hours. When he leaves the club, he sees that the bus he was traveling on has crashed. Back at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, House is diagnosed with a concussion and post-traumatic retrograde amnesia and orders his team to check the bus driver for a possible seizure that precipitated the crash.
While the team investigates the bus driver's condition, House overdoses on Vicodin and starts to hallucinate. He finds himself back on the bus, where he sees a woman who was not on the bus. However, before House can speak to her, Wilson awakens him to do an
In a renewed attempt to retrieve his memory, House has his team re-enact the bus crash. House overdoses on physostigmine and his mind flashes back to the bus scene before the accident. "The answer" keeps asking House what her necklace is made from, until he realizes that it's made of amber. "The answer" transforms into Amber Volakis, and when Wilson and Cuddy manage to resuscitate House from his overdose-induced cardiac arrest, he immediately informs Wilson that Amber was on the bus with him, and was injured in the crash.
Production
"House's Head" was the fourth House episode directed by
When Lisa Edelstein (Dr. Cuddy) heard she had to do a strip scene in the episode, she called actress Sheila Kelley, wife of Richard Schiff (with whom Edelstein had worked previously on The West Wing and Relativity).[9] Kelley had worked on a movie about strippers long ago and Edelstein asked her for her advice on the choreography of the striptease.[9][10] On the episode itself, Edelstein commented: "It is very interesting what happens in the first half of the finale in terms of learning about how House sees people and getting the world from his point of view entirely".[9][10] Before the filming of the scene started, Edelstein showed the dance to Hugh Laurie, who, according to Edelstein, was "incredibly supportive, like a cheerleader".[11] Edelstein commented that after the scene was filmed she, "felt beautiful, and it ended up being a really lovely experience".[11]
The whole bus-crash sequence was storyboarded.
Reception
Ratings
The episode premiered in the US on May 12, 2008 on
Critical reaction
Overall, "House's Head" was very well received by critics.
James Chamberlin, of IGN, said that he hoped the second part of the season finale could live up to the first half.[27] He also said that the scenes revolving around "the answer" reminded him of The Matrix. Chamberlin graded the episode with a 9.5 on a ten scale.[27] Barbara Barnett, of Blog Critics, praised both Hugh Laurie's and Lisa Edelstein's acting performances.[28] She also said that, although there were many "memorable moments" in the episode, the scene in which the bus crashed was "intense", "tension-filled" and "heart-stopping".[28] Maureen Ryan of Chicago Tribune's The Watcher stated that, although she did predict the twist about midway through the episode, there were "so many other enjoyable elements" that it didn't bother her.[6] Jennifer Godwin of E! said the episode was "easily one of House's best finales ever".[29] Also, several critics were surprised by Fred Durst's brief cameo as the bartender in House's flashback.[6][8][23]
The scene in which Lisa Cuddy did a pole dance was very positively received by critics,[30][31] Mary McNarma, of the Los Angeles Times, stated that these scenes "in three minutes earned back the price of TiVo".[5] James Chamberlin of IGN stated that he never expected Edelstein to do a striptease, although he had hoped it.[27] In season four DVD commentary, Jesse Spencer, Lisa Edelstein, Anne Dudek, Jennifer Morrison and Omar Epps all stated that "House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart" are their favorite House episodes.[22]
Awards
Cast members Lisa Edelstein, Jesse Spencer and Hugh Laurie submitted the episode for Primetime Emmy Awards on their behalf. In the categories Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Edelstein), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Spencer) and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Laurie).[1] Peter Blake, David Foster, Russel Friend, Garrett Lerner and Doris Egan, the writers of the episode, submitted the episode on their behalf for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.[1] The episode was also given up for consideration in the category Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series on behalf of director Greg Yaitanes.[1] Hugh Laurie and Greg Yaitanes' submissions both came through as nominations.[2] Yaitanes won the award, but Laurie lost the award to Bryan Cranston for his performance in AMC's Breaking Bad.[3]
See also
- Fantastic Voyage, the subject of a joke by Dr. Taub
References
- ^ a b c d "2008 Emmy Awards Campaigns & Episode Submissions (Part 1)". The Envelope Forum, Los Angeles Times. March 25, 2008. Archived from the original on October 8, 2008. Retrieved October 14, 2008.
- ^ a b Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, (June 17, 2008) "Complete 2008 Nominations List Archived 2008-07-18 at the Wayback Machine". Retrieved on 2008-10-18.
- ^ a b "Academy of Television Arts and Sciences 60th Primetime Emmy Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. September 21, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
- ^ a b c d Dinunno, Gina (May 19, 2008). "See How House's Bus Accident Was Created". TV Guide. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ a b c McNarma, Mary (May 13, 2008). "'House': What goes on inside that good doctor's head?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ a b c Ryan, Maureen (May 12, 2008). "'House' call: Dr. Cuddy did what?". The Watcher, Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 1, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
- ^ Kubicek, John (February 4, 2008). "House: Post-Super Bowl Episode "Frozen" Recap". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
- ^ a b c d Romero, Michelle (May 13, 2008). "'House': Head Case". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ a b c Fienberg, Daniel (May 11, 2008). "Interview: Lisa Edelstein Does a 'House' Call". Zap2it. Archived from the original on August 16, 2009. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
- ^ a b Staff (May 12, 2008). "Houses Stripper Fantasy Finale". Entertainment Tonight. CBS Studios Inc. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
- ^ Dos Santos, Kristin; Reesman, Bryan (June 12, 2008). "Lisa Edelstein Plays House, Huddy and Lap Dances". E!. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
- ^ a b c Dudek, Anne; Yaitanes, Greg; & Vickers, Jim (August 19, 2008). House, Season 4, Anatomy of a Scene: The Bus Crash (DVD). Universal.
- ^ Santagio, Rosario (May 12, 2008). "Part 1 of 'House' Season Finale Airs Tonight". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2008.
- ^ a b Seidman, Robert (May 13, 2008). "Nielsen Ratings May 12: FOX's 'House' Most Watched Among Youth". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. May 6, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
- ^ a b Seidman, Robert (May 20, 2008). "American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and CSI Lead Weekly Nielsen Ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ Network Ten Corporate. May 19, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
- ^ Dale, David (May 16, 2008). "The Who We Are Update: Nine back on top". The Sun-Herald. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
- ^ Bureau of Broadcasting Measurement Canada. May 12, 2008. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 19, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- Five. Archived from the originalon May 13, 2007. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
- ^ Holmwood, Leigh (June 27, 2008). "TV Ratings: Spain's Euro 2008 victory over Russia watched by 7 million". The Guardian. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
- ^ a b Laurie, Hugh; Shore, David; Edelstein, Lisa; Spencer, Jesse, Jennifer Morrison, Anne Dudek & Epps, Omar (August 19, 2008). House, Season 4, My Favorite Episode So Far... (DVD). Universal.
- ^ a b c Morrison, Sara (May 19, 2008). "Busted". Television Without Pity. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
- ^ Dinunno, Gina (May 13, 2008). "House's Head". TV Guide. Archived from the original on October 14, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- The Star Ledger. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (May 12, 2008). "House, "House's Head": Fly in the ointment". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
- ^ a b c Chamberlin, James (May 13, 2008). "House: "House's Head" Review". IGN. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
- ^ a b Barnett, Barbara (May 15, 2008). "TV Review: House, MD - "House's Head"". Blog Critics. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
- ^ Godwin, Jennifer (May 21, 2008). "House Boss David Shore: Everybody Lies, Everybody Dies, Everybody..." E!. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
- ^ Santiago, Rosario (May 19, 2008). "Part 2 of 'House' Season Finale Airs Tonight". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
- ^ Paff, Jessica (May 12, 2008). "'House' Crashing realities". Zap2it. Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
External links
- "House's Head" at Fox
- "House's Head" at IMDb